Comfort
by CrystalBookworm
Summary: It's a wonderful afternoon at Jacob House and William Twining should be enjoying it to the best of his ability, but something is up with the prefect today and the demons are worried


It was a lovely day at Stratford School for Boys. The afternoon sun was shining in through the windows, casting a warm glow on the common room and it was a Saturday too, which meant there were no classes or mandatory activities to attend in the evenings. A lull had settled over Jacob House. Most boys were spending this afternoon relaxing and simply enjoying their rare evening off. In short, it was perfect.

Unless your name was William Twining and your perfectly structured realist world was flipped upside down by the arrival of some very persistent demons. Then you were just screwed.

Take now for instance: William was currently trying his best to study for the upcoming exams, only to be thoroughly deterred by the presence of three very tenacious demons. Dantalion was in one corner of the room, surrounded by what William liked to call his "meathead gang" who were all boisterously laughing about the latest game that Dantalion won and cheering him on for his next game. In the other corner, Sytry, who was munching on his cookies (of course), was surrounded by his typical group of adoring "fans" whom Sytry decided to entertain today with a story of his childhood (dramatically tweaked, of course). Even Camio, the calmest of them all, had decided to partake in Annoy William Day and was currently trying to convince the prefect to take on another job for him by bribing him with "recognition from the Headmaster", etc.

William Twining had had enough.

Standing up, William shut his book with a thud. "Will you guys all just shut UP?"

However, instead of actually listening to the prefect, the noise in the common room only got louder. William rubbed his temples in exhaustion. Not only was he up to his neck in homework and studying, but he also had his prefect duties to attend to _and_ on top of that, he suddenly had to contend with the random demons who kept on showing up and trying to kill him. Needless to say, William was _not _in the mood to listen to all the useless commotion going on around him.

Sighing, William picked up his books and headed for the exit; if he wasn't going to be able to get any studying done in the common room, then he might as well retire for the night – maybe _there_ he could catch up on some reading. Maybe. If Sytry or Isaac or Dantalion didn't decide to invite themselves inside. Which they often did. Because they didn't understand the concept of "privacy".

"William! Wait! Where are you going?" It was Dantalion.

Of course. The meathead.

William turned to face him. "I'm going back to my room! Unlike _you _lot, _I _actually have a future to consider and I'd like to have a good one, thank you very much!"

With that, he continued to storm out, only for his wrist to be caught by a hand. He was spun around and came face to face with ruby red eyes.

"What's wrong?" Dantalion asked. The usual smirk was gone and his voice had softened to a much gentler tone than what William would normally associate with "that meathead." "You're not normally like this."

William yanked his arm out of Dantalion's grip. "I don't know what you mean."

He turned away from him, but Dantalion reached out to grab his chin and forced William to look him in the eyes. William could feel Dantalion's eyes pierce his soul, searching for something. "I've been around you long enough to know you're not acting like your usual self. Hell, _we've_ been around long enough for you to have accepted our presence, so don't push it off as it having anything to do with us." Dantalion used his other had to grip William's shoulder, grounding him in place. "I'm going to ask you one more time: What. Is. Wrong?"

William, who _really _didn't want to discuss this with Dantalion of all people, took his two hands, placed them on Dantalion's chest, and _shoved_. Dantalion, startled by the sudden contact, put up no resistance and actually fell down from the force (which, given William's zero athletic ability, was quite a feat).

Without sparing Dantalion – or the others in the room, who had all stopped to observe the confrontation – a glance, William sprinted from the common room back to his bedroom. In the confines of his room, William finally felt free to let it all out, and so, beyond caring for the cleanliness of his clothes, William sank to the floor and, leaning against the door, began to sob quietly into his arms.

However, William thought with a bitter laugh, he couldn't even get five minutes of self-pity time anymore with the three of _them_ around because suddenly, there was a barrage of knocking on his door. "William! Open up the door!" No need to guess who that was. There were two other voices though; it seemed that the three were having an argument in the hallway in the middle of the night. And Camio was somehow elected Head Boy?

"William! Let us in!" That was obviously Sytry.

"We just want to talk." Camio.

Just then, there was a cracking sound. _Oh no_, was all William could think before the wood above his head began to splinter. And break. And suddenly, the whole wooden door began to burn and smoke and blacken. William had no choice to jump away from the door, lest he wished to be burned alongside it.

Moments later, Dantalion had demolished William's door (it was a miracle at this point that no one else had heard the commotion) and rushed in. Sytry and Camio were right behind him.

Dantalion took one look at William, backed up against his desk and shaking, his eyes still puffy and red-rimmed, and strode over to him. Suddenly, William felt himself enveloped in something warm and….comforting. Was this…a hug?

_No._ William, once again, shoved Dantalion away.

"William –" Dantalion called.

"Go away!" William cried, attempting to shove his way through the other two demons. However, Sytry and Camio were, well, _demons_ and when they put their foot down, they would not budge. William could not get past them.

"William," Camio said softly, holding William back. "Just tell us what's wrong."

"We'll help you," Sytry added, just as gently. He placed a reassuring hand on William's shoulder

"You're demons!" William shouted. He was having a hard time keeping it all in now. He could feel the water crashing against the floodgates; he was going to burst any moment now. Desperately, he began to pound against Camio and Sytry's arms. "You don't understand! You don't –"

Suddenly, Dantalion had grabbed his wrist and _pulled_, so William was once again facing him. "Try us." And before William could protest, once again, he was wrapped in warm, familiar arms and this time, Dantalion was sure to provide a firm but gentle grip to keep William in place. Still, William tried his best and struggled with all his might to escape Dantalion's embrace. He wouldn't. He _couldn't_. But he did. William started to sob uncontrollably against Dantalion's chest and, instead of resisting, he was clinging onto him in desperation for something real to hold on to.

With the floodgates broken, William let it all out. It was a torrent of sadness and pain that he'd been hiding, locked deep within himself. "It was my fault! It was all my fault! Don't you understand?" William blindly reached for Dantalion's face, his watery eyes focused only on the past as he desperately tried to make the others understand and convey his emotions. "I had…It was _me _who requested we go out! I had…I'd just wanted –"

"It's okay," Dantalion said gently. Keeping one hand wrapped firmly around William's waist, he placed the other on his back and began to rub soothing, small circles.

Camio and Sytry took this as their invitation to leave; their services were over and William only needed comfort from one person right now. Silently, they closed the door on their way out.

A few hours later, Pastor Kevin Cecil headed to his young master's room. He had spent the day baking some cookies for the young master, as he knew the significance of this day and the toll it would take on the young master. It was getting quite late, so Kevin silently opened the door to the room, only to close it immediately just as silently. For, inside the room, the young master William Twining, a staunch realist, had his head pillowed gently on the legs of a demon, snoring quietly, with the aforementioned demon fondly playing with the white-blond strands of his Elector.

Humming quietly to himself, Kevin walked back to his own living quarters, a small smile playing on his lips. Perhaps the young master was not so much a realist after all.


End file.
